Grant rates for South Asian visa applicants have plummeted, and fees for post-study work visas have doubled, as the Australian government ramps up its campaign against inauthentic foreign students.<\/p>\n
Applications for visas to undertake higher education studies Down Under have increasingly been rejected since the federal government highlighted escalating \u201cintegrity risks<\/a>\u201d in the subcontinent in November.<\/p>\n Grant rates over November, December and January \u2013 the latest month for which data is available \u2013 have plunged by 18 percentage points on average for applicants in India and 22 percentage points for those in Nepal and Bangladesh<\/a>, compared\u00a0with the same period a year earlier.<\/p>\n The three countries are Australia\u2019s second, third and sixth top source markets respectively for overseas students. In January, the success rate for degree-level students applying from Nepal fell to 53 per cent \u2013 the lowest level in almost 30 months, down from 95 per cent in August.<\/p>\n Julian Hill, the assistant minister for international education, said the government had responded to \u201can unsustainable spike in non-genuine students\u201d from some parts of the subcontinent. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI know there\u2019s conspiracy theories that that\u2019s all because of government policy,\u201d Hill told the Universities Australia conference in Canberra last week. \u201cIt\u2019s not; it\u2019s an application of the genuine student entry test<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the government has doubled the application fee for temporary graduate visas allowing international students to stay and work in Australia.<\/p>\n The price hike, imposed without warning on 1 March, raises the fee to A$4,600 (\u00a32,430). Similar visas cost about \u00a3139 in Canada, \u00a3743 in New Zealand and \u00a3880 plus health insurance expenses in the UK.<\/p>\n The doubling of Australia\u2019s fee reflects Canberra\u2019s desire to usher overseas students out of the country more expeditiously after they have completed their courses. Applications for temporary graduate visas this financial year are on track to exceed the 2023-24 record of about 145,000.<\/p>\n Record numbers of former international students are also challenging adverse immigration decisions in the Administrative Review Tribunal. By the end of January, the backlog of appeals against student visa rejections had reached almost 50,000 while another 2,600 appellants were waiting to overturn refusals of temporary graduate visas.<\/p>\n The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (Capa) said the fee hike placed an \u201cunfair financial burden\u201d on international graduates who were already battling \u201csignificant\u201d living and study costs.<\/p>\n \u201c[It] sends a clear message that international graduates are being treated as revenue sources rather than valued contributors to Australia\u2019s workforce and society,\u201d said Capa president Jesse Garden-Russell. \u201cGraduates finish their studies hoping to gain work experience here, contribute to their fields and build networks \u2013 not to be hit with unpredictable, punitive costs.\u201d<\/p>\n